Chapter Six

My key turned in the lock and I entered my room with a sigh. Finally. Home. I could stop pretending I was doing what I was supposed to be doing for a while. Luckily, Lucy wasn't home yet. I was hoping she'd met one of her sorority sisters for lunch or something. God knew those girls were always doing something together, why not lunch.

I threw my bookbag on the futon and sat down at my desk to check my e-mail. There were, as always, several from the Dean of students, letting us know that there was a sewage problem in one of the apartment complexes and the air conditioning was broken in Reed Hall. Considering I didn't live anywhere near those apartments and it was the middle of December, neither message caused me much alarm.

Then I saw the next e-mail was from one of my professors. I was the only recipient and the subject line simply said, "????" Great.

To: jwilde@stanley.edu

From: kcayne@stanley.edu

Subject: ????

Wilde,

Where the hell are you? Have you died? Have you fallen in the shower and conked your head? Shall I send someone to your dorm room to make sure you’re still alive?

Well, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, I thought. I really liked Professor Cayne, or “Kay” as she prefered to be called. She was British, she was young, she even made Art History sound interesting. I replied to her e-mail and informed her I was still alive, that I'd just been sick, and that I'd be back to class on Monday.

Luckily, that was the only e-mail from any of my professors. I didn't know whether to be relieved or angry that none of my other profs cared if I was alive and well or not.

"Jojo?"

I turned in my chair to see Isaac peeking in the room. Showtime.

"Hey!" I exclaimed and jumped up to hug him. "Come in, why're you just standing there?"

"Are you ok?" he asked. He took off his baseball cap and ran his fingers through his hair, making it stand straight on end. I loved when he did that.

"Yeah," I said, kissing him on the cheek. "Of course."

We sat down on the futon and I turned on the TV. Isaac took the remote from me and clicked off.

"What’s going on?" I asked. "You're acting weird."

"From what I hear, so are you," he said. Not looking at me, by the way.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I talked to Lucy. She says you haven't been sleeping."

"That's stupid," I said. "Of course I have."

"Not much, though." He put his cap back on his head.

"So what? I've got a little insomnia, it's no big deal."

"Are you sure that's it?"

"Yeah," I huffed. "I'm fine. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about me with my roommate."

"How was class today?" I couldn't see his eyes. They were shielded by the rim of his hat.

"Fine."

"Jo . . ."

"What?"

"You haven't been going, have you?"

"Don't be stupid."

"What's going on?" He was looking at me now. I couldn't handle this. "You can talk to me."

"Jesus!" I yelled. "I fucking said I'm fine!"

I grabbed my keys and stormed out of the room. The door slamed loudly behind me and I felt a small bit of satisfaction.

It wasn't until later that I realized I'd left the Notebook in my bookbag on the futon, sitting right next to my boyfriend.